In the morning news

At this stage, three issues dominate the electoral landscape, with the war in Iraq at the top of the list. Nearly half of all adults, 45 percent, cited Iraq as the most or second-most important issue in their choice for president. About three in 10 cited the economy and jobs (29 percent) or health care (27 percent). All other issues are in the single digits.

“The boomers’ tendencies lean toward doing whatever it takes to take care of our kids. We do a lot for our kids,” says Steve Slon, editor of the American Association of Retired Persons’ bi-monthly AARP The Magazine. “When we see the cost of housing and education, we just get out our checkbook.”

It’s a nightmarish lesson in investing that regulators say will become increasingly common as 79 million baby boomers inch toward retirement. Across America, a growing number of financial advisers are targeting the portfolios of the swelling number of want-to-be early retirees through their employers.

Few people gleefully anticipate the task of caring for an aging parent-but plenty seem to deny that it’s coming. Sooner or later, avoidance can thrust adult children into the caregiver role with a shotgun start.